Bab 12: What the man saw
"Ow! Ow!"
Eve winced at the impact of her fall on the wet ground. With no umbrella over her head, raindrops fell on her. Her clothes were quick to soak in water, and her hair dampened.
She then looked at the man with a bit of glare. Pushing herself up, she came to stand in front of him, who stood with a black umbrella over his head.
His silver hair was almost camouflaged with the rain, but it was darker and more prominent when it slowed down. With the cloak that covered his clothes beneath it, Eve didn't take note of where he could be from.
"Why didn't you stop me from falling?" She asked him, feeling the dull pain in her bottom. She had seen his eyes shift towards her hand, but he had made no effort to move.
"You never asked," replied the man, his words higher than the sound of the rain that surrounded them.
D-didn't ask?
"Any gentleman would have been kind enough to stop it before being asked," said Eve, the fringes of her hair now stuck to her forehead.
The man stared at her for a second before one side of his lips pulled up, and his copper-red eyes twinkled, "I guess I am not a gentleman."
Eugene, who had been walking ahead, finally realized that Eve was not behind him and his eyes widened. He looked left and right before going back in the direction where he had come from. He noticed Eve standing in front of a stranger, and she looked like she was about to fight.
A frown appeared on Eve's forehead, and she said, "You are a rude man—"
The man took a step forward, and just for that moment, his umbrella offered shelter to Eve.
She noticed his eyes dangerously narrow, and he said in a low mocking voice, "Little girls should get back home quickly. Lest you want others to see you…"
Eve's face paled, and one would assume that it was because of the rain, where little drops of water had dripped down her face and then her neck before disappearing in her dress. Was her scales showing up? But that was not possible, passed the thought quickly in her mind. She had learned to control and hide her true appearance. But then, it was raining right now.
She quickly took two steps backwards, this time making sure she wouldn't fall again and make a fool of herself.
"Lady Eve!" Eugene came to her side with her umbrella that had fallen on the ground.
At Eugene's presence, the man walked in the other direction without sparing a word of apology.
"Are you alright?" asked Eugene, "Was that someone you knew?" Eve, who was still alarmed, asked him,
"Eugene, how does my face look??" She moved her face left and right.
A little confused, Eugene replied, "You are drenched. Here, take the umbrella."
Eve took hold of the umbrella in her hand and turned her eyes to look in the direction where the man had now disappeared in the rain. Why did he say that then? Did her scales appear and disappear?
"The rain doesn't look like it is going to stop anytime soon. Let us hurry back home," Eugene ushered both of them from there and away from the market.
On returning home, Eve folded her umbrella and let it lean against the wall. She ran up the stairs.
"Careful with th—ACHOO!" Eugene sneezed, even though he wasn't the one to be drenched in the rain.
Eve had already made her way to the top of the stairs and reached her room. Closing the door behind her, she walked up to stand in front of the mirror. As expected, she looked like a stray cat thrown out in the rain.
Her blue eyes stood out compared to her wet and cold skin. She quickly looked at her face and then her neck, but she found no hint of her scales. It was when her eyes lowered further did she notice that her dress stuck to her skin like a second skin. The dress she had worn today was beige, and the usual opaque dress had turned transparent.
Blood rushed up to her face in embarrassment for not realizing it earlier.
To make it worse, she had even taken two steps away from him, letting him see her womanly curves and her snug, wet dress.
Changing her clothes to a dry dress, she rubbed her wet hair.
When she took a look at her face with her wet hair let down, she looked like her eighteen-year-old self. Young like the other girls of that age, her face was unblemished and smooth. Having lost her mother at a young age, Eve didn't have answers to why she had stopped ageing.
She grit her teeth when she remembered the rude man who had called her 'little girl'. She was a woman!
When Lady Aubrey returned home, which was after the rain had stopped.
"Welcome back, Lady Aubrey," Eugene greeted the woman, taking her coat off.
"Where is Eve?" Inquired the woman, her lips set themselves in a thin line.
"She's in the kitchen crushing the rocks," answered Eugene, wondering why the lady had right away asked for Eve.
Lady Aubrey made her way towards the kitchen. She found Eve, using the mortar and pestle to crush the rocks.
Before Eve could greet her, Lady Aubrey asked, "Is it true, Eve?"
"What?" Eve tilted her head.
"Did you slap someone in Skellington town today?" demanded Lady Aubrey, and the expression on Eve's face spoke volumes. A tired and vexed sigh escaped from the woman's lips, "Why? Why did you do that?"
The older woman looked like she didn't know what to do with Eve. A few minutes before leaving Mrs. Henley's house, the lady had a visitor from whom she heard about a lowly woman from Meadow slapping a man. Lady Aubrey had her doubts, but now she confirmed it.
"How did you hear about it?" Asked Eve, continuing to crush the rocks carefully. How fast did gossip travel from one town to another town? It wasn't like she had slapped a Lord or a Duke. The man was a lowly being.
"How I heard is not important. What happened that you had to slap him?" Lady Aubrey waited for Eve to speak. Worry fell on the woman's face, and she asked, "Was it unintentional?"
Eve could tell that Aunt Aubrey was soon going to faint in distress. She shook her head, "No, it was intended."
"Oh, dear, God," the older woman placed her hand on her forehead in disbelief.
"He deserved it. Actually more than that," replied Eve, using more force to crush the rocks. "He should be glad that I didn't hit him with my umbrella after misbehaving with me," she added. Lady Aubrey's eyebrows furrowed, finally understanding what might have happened, and she sighed.
As if suddenly enlightened, Eugene remarked, "Ah! I now know why your umbrella would have been damaged by the heat," realising what Eve's earlier words meant.
When Lady Aubrey took a seat at the dining table, Eve let go of the pestle, and she came to stand behind the older woman. She carefully massaged the woman's shoulders to ease her worry. She then said,
"I didn't mean to cause trouble."
Lady Aubrey couldn't scold Eve because what happened was something unavoidable. She asked, "How did you end up with that person? Never mind. You have to be careful, Genevieve. Especially with people from Skellington," and Lady Aubrey sighed again. "If people find out that you were the one who slapped the 'respectable man', you might as well forget being a governess."
Eve's shoulders drooped because she knew how true Aunt Aubrey's words were.
No one would offer her the job of governess. After all, the people residing in the towns around them were all about reputation.
Bab 13: Letter
With the time of night came the memory of darkness from the past. Crawling near her and into her mind as she continued to sleep.
Eve's dream took her back to when she was small and was in the meadow with her mother.
'Mama! Mama! Look what I found!' Came Eve's bubbly voice while she squatted down on the ground.
'What is it, dear?' Asked her mother, who was plucking flowers. Seeing Eve not move, she finally made her way through the long stalks of the grass, one hand holding the flowers and the other holding the front of her dress.
Eve's cheeks had turned pink out of happiness, and her blue eyes danced in joy' as she stared at her hand that she hadn't moved since the last minute.
'Oh my, look what you have there!' Her mother looked surprised, watching a butterfly sitting on little Eve's palm.
The butterfly moved its wings gently as if ready to fly with the slightest movement around it. The butterfly's wings started deep blue before turning lighter as it moved to the ends of its wings, which had a smudgy black outline.
'Isn't it pretty, mama!' came Little Eve's excited voice as she continued looking at it. When the butterfly flew away a few seconds later, the little girl turned to look at her mother, who stood there with a blank expression on her face. 'Mama…?'
A hole started to form in her mother's chest, and it widened. Bigger and bigger with every passing second, blood began to stain her mother's clothes.
'Mama?... Mama!' Little Eve cried, but her mother continued standing there unresponsive to her cries before falling. 'MAMAA!'
A gasp escaped from Eve's lips. Her eyes opened, and looked at the ceiling in the dark, and sweat covered her forehead. She sat up on the bed, feeling something cool on her cheek. She touched it to find it wet.
Even after years, the pain that was caused by her mother's death continued lingering in her heart. She missed her mother terribly. And if there was one thing she wished she could do in the past, it was to bury her mother with respect, something the people of this and the other towns had been incapable of doing.
She hadn't got to say goodbye to the person she loved the most in this world. Who was her world. It was because of a man, and she didn't remember who it was. She had no recollection of the name or the face. Everything from that memory had been wiped only to be filled with the blood that belonged to her mother. Her heart clenched.
Next morning when the sun rose in the sky, the streets of the Meadow town were back to their usual hustle and bustle. Eugene stepped out of the humble house, ready to go to the market to fetch milk and newspaper when he heard footsteps approaching from behind him.
"Lady Eve, good morning. Do you have another interview today?" He inquired, but the lady hadn't been dressed like yesterday.
"Good morning, Eugene. If only that was the case, but no," replied Eve, and she closed the main door behind her. "I am going to accompany you to the market."
Eugene nodded, "Very well then."
Some of the town folks offered them their morning greetings by slightly bowing their heads, and Eve and Eugene returned it by doing the same.
"Achoo!" Eugene sneezed into his handkerchief.
"Bless you. Did you catch a cold?" Asked Eve, turning her head, she saw Eugene scrunch his nose and shake his head.
"I hope not, milady. I have to take Lady Aubrey and you to Grandmores house this afternoon, as the Grandmore's have invited you both for lunch," answered Eugene, blinking his eyes a couple of times. "I am glad that you didn't catch a fever."
"I don't remember when was the last time I caught a cold," replied Eve with a subtle frown on her face.
"Oh, I do. When you were little, you," Eugene paused for a moment before sneezing again, and he continued, "You fell severely ill, and the physician who came to look at you told us that you were on the verge of your death. It had Lady Aubrey very worried, of course, I was very worried too. You were so little," he gestured with his hand to show how small she was. "So sweet and adorable."
Eve chuckled, seeing Eugene remember the first time she had come to live in Dawson's residence. While Lady Aubrey was the one who taught Eve the etiquettes of society, Eugene had become Eve's friend.
"Once we return home, I will make you a warm chamomile tea and you will feel better soon," said Eve because the man had always been susceptible to cold.
"That is very kind of you, Lady Eve," Eugene was touched by just Eve's thought.
On noticing the newspaper stall, Eve quickly walked up to the vendor and handed five shillings to him.
"Have a good day, milady," wished the man, handing the newspaper, and Eve nodded before she muttered to herself,
"I can only hope for one."
Eve went through the front page, the next page, and the one after that until she reached the last page while her eyes scanned the headlines of every news. A relieved sigh escaped from her lips. There was not a whisper written about her slapping Mr. Walsh, and she raised both her arms towards the sky.
"Yes!" Her happiness startled an older woman walking past the stall, who passed her a glare as if Eve had tried to give her a heart attack.
Eve turned to the vendor and said, "A very good day to you too, Sir!"
"It seems like the wealthy family decided to hush the matter without wanting anyone to know what happened," remarked Eugene. "That doesn't mean word hasn't reached people, milady."
That was true, thought Eve to herself. Instead of blowing up everywhere, the matter was handled better than she thought it would be, where she could have turned infamous overnight. Though by Mr. Walsh's words, she should have known that he wouldn't want anyone questioning why he was slapped.
"Hopefully people will forget it, once they hear another scandalous news. And then I can go back to visiting houses for the job," Eve hadn't brought her purple umbrella as she believed it wouldn't rain this morning. "Look, we already have one here."
"What does it say, milady?" Asked Eugene as they continued to walk.
Eve held the paper in both her hands and read, "It is found that Mrs. Lawnder, who has been actively looking for a bride for her bachelor son, isn't so bachelor. Her son fathered a boy with their maid, who was sent to live in the countryside."
"Poor maid," Eugene pitted the woman. "I guess that does overshadow what happened with you and the person."
A few days passed, and in those days, Eve received two letters from the families. It were letters that were sugar coated on how they had found their governess and wouldn't be needing her to come pay them a visit. The people in the Dawson's residence could only come to conclude that the families had heard about what Eve did in Skellington town.
One late morning, Eugene was watering the plants at the front of the house. Humming and singing to himself, when Lady Aubrey stepped out of the house and asked him,
"Eugene, do you remember where the ribbons have been placed? We need to wrap a present."
"It should be in the back drawers, milady," replied Eugene.
"It isn't there. I think we ran out of ribbons," said Eve, who stepped out of the house and stood next to Lady Aubrey.
"I am sure I saw the blue one last week. Please, let me take a look," Eugene placed the water can on the ground and stepped inside with Lady Aubrey.
Eve walked to where the water can was, ready to water the plants, when someone clinked the gate's latch. It was the mailman who had arrived at the front of the gate.
She signed and took the letter from the man, wondering if it was for Lady Aubrey. But it was addressed to her. Turning the letter in her hand, she read who it was from.
"Moriarty?" She didn't remember applying to be governess to this family.
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